Why all political parties are suddenly so much concerned about the poor

The opposition claim that demonetisation is essentially anti-poor. Should the poor buy such argument or believe in Modi?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with other AAP leaders at a rally against demonetisation of currency notes at Azadpur Mandi in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

Politics has become the task of doing the unexpected these days. Consider these: a) Arvind Kejriwal-led AAM Admi Party, which came to power promising action against the corrupt including former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, is now opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise demonetisation scheme that has been hailed by many as the biggest strike against black economy in the country.

b) The Congress, now apparently led by Rahul Gandhi, presided over scams worth thousands of crores of rupees during the previous UPA regime under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It is the same party that has mocked the sentiments of the poor with its slogans like ‘garibi hatao’ and ‘Congress ka haath, garibo ke saath’ for decades.

The Congress is now suddenly concerned as to how demonetisation has severely affected the poor of the country. Rahul even made a joke of himself when he lined outside an ATM to exchange his old currency notes worth Rs 4000 recently.

c) In the name of the poor, the BJP has apparently hit its traditional vote bank that consists of people running small businesses. The party is apparently banking on the individual charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pull off such a gigantic move.

d) Among the others suddenly concerned about the poor, daily wagers and farmers is Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. His son and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav today said that demonetisation has badly affected farmers in the state. He also claimed his government couldn’t get adequate assistance from the Centre to help farmers hit by the hailstorm. Allegations aside, one just wonders how honestly Mulayam has been able to raise an army of over 30 elected representatives from his own extended family. Certainly, all of them toiled hard to become such honest politicians!

Apart from SP, there are leaders from the Left like Sitaram Yechury and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who are suddenly concerned about the poor and they demand the rollback of the demonetisation order. For over 25 years of its rule in West Bengal, the Left failed to end widespread poverty in the state and members of Banerjee’s party have been found neck-in-deep in the chit-fund scam worth thousands of crores of rupees. But these are non-issues in today’s pro-poor politics!

The opposition claim that demonetisation is essentially anti-poor. Should the poor buy such argument or believe in Modi? The PM has said he would never betray the poor. Modi has also claimed he left family and other comforts for the sake of the country. Should Modi get a chance to execute his plan? The decision obviously lies with the poor.

Unlike the common perception that poor in the country are voiceless and someone should play a guardian angel for them, the poor are wise and they always know what is best for them. For proof, one can go to banks in rural areas where a number of rural people are peacefully lining up at banks to exchange their old notes, despite the sufferings. The poor have not revolted, even after 10 days of cash crunch. The politicians have.

Apart from politicians, there is also a group of pseudo liberals on social media who are suddenly concerned about the poor. The irony is that the rarest few of them would lend a single rupee to a poor during a crisis, forget any genuine help.

But then one can take solace from the fact that everyone is talking about the poor. Hope “achche din” for the poor would arrive soon.

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Gopalan Nair

Nov 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm

Politicians are basically the s of human society. They will loot the country and then cry se they are for the poor. The poor Indians know in their hearts that these ss are crying so loud since the black money they ded is in danger of losing its value.

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anil kumar

Nov 18, 2016 at 1:36 pm

a good article. certainly politicians & their henchmen are hammered by Modi and hence all these dramas. the w opposition is trying just to confuse/provoke the general public and get some free advers. some media houses are also engaged in improve TRP by not guiding general m and contradicting the way politicians orchestrated the things for vote politics in the pre modi era. in fact the so called pro poor parties are the ones who destro the country for a very long time. MMS being such a good economist behaved like a puppet in the hands of sonia/rahul,etc. congress under the present dispensation,yechuris,mamatas,mayas,mulayams,laloos,kejris, are just out there to garner support in the coming elections by hooked up stories and threats. but it won't help them in any way. people are not so foolish and they know the mistakes they have made in electing kejris/mamatas/laloos in their respective states. just it is time that they are waiting to punish these unscrupulous politicians and parties. writing on the wall*********. any gentlemen who wants to oppose my views they may do so in a proper manner and not to use any foul language.

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Narinder Singh

Nov 18, 2016 at 1:22 pm

I stood in a queue outside ICICI Bank ATM in Yelahanka Bengaluru. It was a 45 minute wait to withdraw cash. I got Rs. 2500 in 100 rupee notes, so did everyone else in the queue. There was not one angry voice or gesture anywhere. The common man knows this step is against the corrupt. Common man is not angry. There are many stories around in Bengaluru about the ders of black money who are now converting their black money through agents at a 40% discount. Common man is hearing these stories. Politicians in Delhi and even the Supreme Court judges are reading it all wrong.

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Anurag Gupta

Nov 18, 2016 at 2:31 pm

Every political party across the world is supposedly pro-poor and supports and champions things for less-privileged sections. There is no party which says - "I am for business cl or service cl". When elections are near, parties find additional love for poor.

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vijayan

Nov 18, 2016 at 1:26 pm

True facts. Well conceived article.

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Yayaavar

Nov 18, 2016 at 1:43 pm

All the political leaders who are howling against demonetisation in the name of poor are ridiculously hypocrite.They MMR are howling because all of sudden the thick carpet below their feet under which there were huge spread of black money has been snatched away from their feet.They are scared how they are going to fight elections to be held in several states .TMC is worried because all the money it's leaders allegedly stashed from Sharda scam and other scams has suddenly evaporated in thin air .